Digital content such as digital media content (video, images, playlists, multimedia files, and text, for example) is captured and consumed using an ever-increasing variety of media rendering devices. Some examples of devices used to capture and consume digital content include personal computers (“PCs”), personal digital assistants, portable digital media players, and mobile phones.
One way of capturing digital content for use on a media rendering device is by copying or moving the digital content directly from a local digital content source to the media rendering device via a wired transmission medium such as a port, a bus, or a portable computer-readable memory such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic storage device, or an optical storage device.
Increasingly, however, media rendering devices are equipped with connectivity features that allow the media rendering devices to communicate with other devices over networks, and to capture digital content via the networks. Wide area networks (“WANs”) are wireless or wired geographically dispersed networks generally covering geographic regions of more than a few hundred meters. The Internet is one example of a WAN. Local-area networks (“LANs”) are wireless or wired networks that facilitate the transmission or receipt of information within relatively small physical areas surrounding a device or an entity such as a person or a business (generally, up to a few hundred meters).
Podcasting is a popular technique for distributing digital content via the Internet. Podcasting allows a user of a media rendering device (such as a portable digital media player) to subscribe to receive certain digital content that has been published to a location on the World Wide Web. Another popular way of capturing digital content via the Internet is through the use of large, public, peer-to-peer file-sharing services such as Napster or Kazaa. Digital content may also be captured via instant messaging, which is user-initiated, real-time electronic communication between two or more pre-affiliated entities (contacts in a buddy list, for example) over a network.
LANs are also used for capturing digital content. One type of LAN is a wireless LAN (“WLAN”). A WLAN is generally identified by the air interface protocol(s) used for communication within the WLAN. Currently popular air interface protocols include the Wireless Fidelity (“WiFi”) series of protocols promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) and the HiperLAN series of protocols developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute.
Home-based WLANs are commonly used to transfer digital content from one media rendering device to another—a user may wirelessly transfer music from his personal computer to his portable digital media player, for example. WLANs, however, are increasingly available to the public within areas such as retail centers or cities, thus creating opportunities for local communication between many types of communication devices operated by many different people or businesses. In addition to WLAN technology, cable replacement technologies exist. Cable replacement technologies facilitate direct local communication between two endpoints using short-range radio frequencies. Like WLANs, cable replacement technologies are identified by the air interface protocols used for communication. Current cable replacement air interface protocols include Bluetooth and Wireless USB protocols.
Although it is becoming easier to capture and use digital content using a wide variety of media rendering devices, the constant chore of discovering fresh digital content remains. Discovering digital content generally requires active engagement with various content distribution options. Someone inclined to spend time actively discovering fresh digital content may engage in one or more of the following activities, among others: tuning in to live broadcasts of digital content (such as radio, television, or Internet broadcasts) to identify interesting content; seeking out digital content reviews such as music reviews; purchasing digital content at physical or virtual stores; creating playlists; or identifying and affiliating with people or groups with interesting digital content inventories.
A system referred to as TunA, which facilitates passive receipt of digital audio content in a synchronized, peer-to-peer manner using WLANs, has been proposed. TunA is a mobile wireless application that allows synchronized peer-to-peer audio streaming via a WiFi network—users of handheld music players capable of WiFi communication are able to “tune in” to other nearby music players and listen to what someone else is listening to.
Synchronized peer-to-peer audio streaming provides exposure to a limited subset of digital content (mainly music) in an ad-hoc, transient, and local manner. Receipt of audio streams in such a manner generally does not significantly reduce the constant chore of discovering and capturing fresh digital content for use on media rendering devices. This is because, among other things, “live” broadcasts are but only one way in which digital content is discoverable; because after identifying digital content via live broadcasts, the chore of obtaining the digital content from another source remains; and because digital content is more than simply music, including, for example, video, images, multimedia files, text, data, playlists, and even metadata. Moreover, spontaneous audio streaming has the potential to be unduly intrusive, disruptive, or distracting for use in a variety of venues.
Techniques for discovering a wide variety of digital content using local peer-to-peer communication are desirable, along with flexible and legal options for distributing and managing the discovered digital content.
It will be appreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all of the disadvantages of specific peer-to-peer digital content sharing systems or aspects thereof.